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Machine generated contents note: 1. Introduction; Part I. Concepts and Tools: 2. Choice and freedom; 3. Measuring autonomy freedom; 4. The empirical measure of autonomy; Part II. Autonomy Freedom and the Welfare State: 5. Why redistribute?; 6. Autonomy freedom and redistribution; 7. Autonomy freedom and welfare spending; 8. Conclusion

In this essay we ground the theoretical foundations of an empirical measure of the degree of freedom perceived by individuals on the Millian view of affirmation and development of individuality. We then discuss the implications of such a measure for policy and institutional design.

The theory of spontaneous order has been the object of a large number of studies in the history of political thought. Authors such as Bernard de Mandeville ([1714] 1732). David Hume ([177] 1975, [1740] 1978), Adam Smith ([1776] 1976), and Carl Menger (1963) were among the first to develop a fully fledged account of how institutions spontaneously develop as a result of the unintended design arising out of intentional human actions. Similarly, authors such as Robert Nozick (1974) and Anthony de Jasay (1989) used the spontaneous order as a tool to show whether public goods can he produced by simply relying on individuals' self interest. However, the popularity of the spontaneous order has to he ascribed to Friedrich Hayek, who dedicated a large part of his work to developing the concept. One of the most relevant implications of the concept of actual spontaneity is that diversity constitutes, to some extent, both an important opportunity to exploit and a necessary requirement to preserve the spontaneity of an order. Adapted from the source document.

This book is about the relationship between different concepts of freedom and happiness. The book's authors distinguish three concepts for which an empirical measure exists: opportunity to choose (negative freedom), capability to choose (positive freedom), and autonomy to choose (autonomy freedom). They also provide a comprehensive account of the relationship between freedom and well-being by comparing channels through which freedoms affect quality of life. The book also explores whether the different conceptions of freedom complement or replace each other in the determination of the level of well-being. In so doing, the authors make freedoms a tool for policy making and are able to say which conception is the most effective for well-being, as circumstances change. The results have implications for a justification of a free society: maximizing freedoms is good for its favorable consequences upon individual well-being, a fundamental value for the judgment of human advantage

A substantial literature finds that freedom in the sense of an expanded opportunity set is positively related to happiness. A contrasting literature, however, finds that an excess of choice can have socially undesirable outcomes. We test the effect of two types of freedom—autonomy and political—on happiness using five waves of World Values Survey data (1981–2008). We find evidence supporting the claim that equipping people with the tools to direct the course of their lives (i.e. increasing autonomy freedom) incentivizes the desire to investigate alternatives (e.g. political parties) before making a decision. The effect of freedoms on happiness is diminished in contexts where individuals have less experience with evaluating alternatives, such as in authoritarian or transitional countries.